MIDLAND - Chris Jacobs has the look and bloodlines of a football player.

And that’s why he plays baseball.

The Great Lakes Loons first baseman got off to a slow start, but is anxious to make up for lost time in this, his second season, with the Loons.

“I’m still adjusting a little,” said Jacobs, who spent the early part of the season in Arizona, recovering from a back injury.

“It was just from wearing down,” Jacobs said. “I need to get comfortable here again.”

Jacobs stands 6-foot-5 and weighs 260 pounds and is one of the best power prospects in the Los Angeles Dodgers system.

He was a 17th-round pick in 2007 and is in his fifth minor league season. While he has shown some power, he has yet to show the ability to make consistent contact.

Last season, Jacobs got 149 at-bats with the Loons, hitting eight doubles and seven homers. He only hit .215 with 50 strikeouts.

His struggles have continued this season, with a .174 average in 21 at-bats entering Monday’s game. But he has shown a good eye, however, with nine walks and a .406 on-base percentage.

Jacobs was a three-sport star in high school, but his focus was on baseball despite his bloodlines. His father, Eugene Jacobs, was a linebacker in the Indianapolis Colts system, while his uncle, Daniel Jacobs, was a fifth-round pick in 1980 by the Seattle Seahawks.

Preston Mattingly, who played for the Great Lakes Loons during their first two seasons, has returned to the Loons.

Mattingly was a first-round pick by the Dodgers in 2006 and hit .290 with the Dodgers’ short-season Gulf Coast League team.

But he struggled as a 19-year-old shortstop with the Loons and was moved to second base. He hit .210 in 107 games the first season with the Loons, then .224 in 92 games in 2008. He failed to make progress at the Dodgers Advanced Class A team in Inland Empire the last two seasons, despite a switch to the outfield.

During the off-season, the Dodgers traded Mattingly, the son of news Dodgers manager Don Mattingly, to the Cleveland Indians for minor leaguer Roman Pena, who plays for the Loons.

Before the start of the season, the Indians cut Mattingly, who resigned with the Dodgers.